Updating from Win 98SE --> Win 2K

I was told to upgrade all of the old computers with 98 on them to 2K. Well, I am having a few problems.

One: when they want me to do this upgrade, they want me to do a new install, not just partition it.

Two: When I do this, I have been having some good luck, untill now.

Three: I am losing my default drivers left and right. Everytime I do a new install, it runs through the process and does NOT install the Video Driver properly, the Ethernet Controller is gone and the sound in non existant.

Four: All these drivers are supposed to be default

We need to have these drivers or we cannot get on the network, I-Net, or listen to sounds that we need to hear (some of the programs are for ESL and generally slow kids).

A job like that should never be done without obtaining the most recent drivers for the equipment in question first!

Are all the 'old computers' the same make and model? You should be able to download the necessary drivers for the systems and the internal components in question from manufacturer websites or from a source such as www.driverguide.com

I forgot to mention that I am only using one computer until I get it right, then I will do it on ALL computers.
Sorry to worry you like that Catweazle.

No, the computers are not all the same. Most of them are OLD, and I mean OLD... They were here when I was kinda old.
Also, What drivers am I supposed to look for on this website
AND
how can I tell what model motherboard I have so that I can get drivers for that

Also, I am working on getting my cloner to work. All I am getting is a boot error after the copy.

It will tell you everything that you want to know about the PCs you are working on and if you export the results file to HTML, it will create hyperlinks to the manufacturer sites to further assist you in finding drivers, etc.

There are other tools, but this is the only one that I have used in my very limited experience.

Good luck.

I forgot to mention that I am only using one computer until I get it right, then I will do it on ALL computers.
Sorry to worry you like that Catweazle.

No, the computers are not all the same. Most of them are OLD, and I mean OLD... They were here when I was kinda old.
Also, What drivers am I supposed to look for on this website
AND
how can I tell what model motherboard I have so that I can get drivers for that

Also, I am working on getting my cloner to work. All I am getting is a boot error after the copy.

It will tell you everything that you want to know about the PCs you are working on and if you export the results file to HTML, it will create hyperlinks to the manufacturer sites to further assist you in finding drivers, etc.

This may not be my place, but I would bet that if the computers are that old, they are not going to run 2000 well at all. And knowing schools, your software might not work on Windows 2000 either. I am also hopeful that you are upgrading legally, meaning that the school purchased the proper licenses for the machines.

When you are making your upgraded computer, also install *all* of the needed software and test it out. I ran across many samples of older typing software that worked fine on Win95/98 and would not load up on Windows 2000. Please do yourself the favor of testing out the machines first. Also -- check out how the antivirus will be updated, as well as system patches. You might want to consider setting up a SUS server....

Also, you are now going from a single user OS to a login-required system (unless you are going to tell Windows 2K to auto-login each user). Are your teachers / staff trained and ready for the paradigm shift?

Good luck with this. But if the computers are older ( < Pentium 800 Mhz, < 256 MB RAM ), your users might be ready for recess before the machine fully loads.

Thank you for the words of encouragement, KcOarf. Well, I was informed just the other day that this change will only effect the student computers and that they will be updated to 2K. This means less work on my part, but more because I need to create the user accounts of all the students instead of having them all log on with one universal Password. Plus, I have to set up a server so that each student can have their own small space for stuff that they want to keep (I think my boss is going to do this). Also, the programs that we do have are 2K Compliant or have a patch that makes them avaliable in this version of Windows.
We are upgrading legaly, because I remember members of Microsoft (just reps.) comming here and making us sign something saying that we are not doing this illegally and that if we did, severe punishment would be the result.